Dear Editor: The city of Oakland is currently in trouble over city charter violations and its auditor reported it to the FBI and others. This tells us that our Peninsula cities should have attentive city auditors who can work independently from city councils and appointed city attorneys.

Palo Alto had a great city auditor about 10 years ago but she disappeared. Mountain View’s city charter allows a “combined” city auditor, and the council chose the city finance director to assume the title. So, in actuality, it just eliminated the required auditor.

If any city needs a real city auditor, it is Mountain View. Taking out millions of dollars in loans from the Shoreline Regional Park Community — and then not repaying the loans — would never pass a real auditor’s examination.

Donald Letcher,

Mountain View

Abbas and Jews

Dear Editor: Vladimir Kaplan’s March 27 letter repeated his claim that Palestinians currently have a goal of eliminating Israel. Yet, according to a 2010 article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, “Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told U.S. Jewish leaders on Wednesday that he would never deny Jews their right to the land of Israel.” In addition, this article mentioned that “The Palestinian president said during the discussion that he had in the past proposed creating a trilateral commission to monitor and punish incitement, but that Israel did not agree to it.” Apparently “incitement” referred to “violent incitement.” One of the participants told a Haaretz reporter that, “I am sure some people don’t agree with him but the fact that everybody showed up was pretty encouraging.”

The Haaretz article also stated that Abbas insisted on East Jerusalem as his capital, and of course the settlements seem to be a major issue for the Palestinians. Regardless, I don’t think anything Abbas could say would change Mr. Kaplan’s opinion, just as you would never convince a “birther” that President Barack Obama is in fact a U.S. citizen.

In closed door talks, Sen. Dianne Feinstein agreed to a major new water policy for California that sells out the Delta and guts Endangered Species Act protections. Sen. Barbara Boxer is fighting the good fight to remove the rider from her comprehensive water infrastructure bill, but it may take a presidential veto.